and many more benefits!

Find us on Facebook

GMAT Club Timer Informer

Hi GMATClubber!

Thank you for using the timer!
We noticed you are actually not timing your practice. Click the START button first next time you use the timer.
There are many benefits to timing your practice, including:

Can you please help me in identifying the schools that I should target based on my profile and career goals? I plan to start my MBA in Fall 2014 and will be applying in the second round for most schools.

ProfileGender - MaleAge - 26Nationality - Indian

Educational QualificationBachelor's of Technology(Computer Science), Punjabi UniversityYear of Graduation: 2008Results: 64.50% on 100 (Have not converted to GPA because India does not have a standardized result format)

SAP Consultant

Work ExperienceTotal Work Experience: 5 years 3 monthsFull time: 5 years 3 months

Overview• Over 5 years of full-time experience in SAP consultant in Major MNCs• Focused on SAP Technologies consultancy with an inclination towards technical analysis and SAP FICO • Efficient in Team Management, risk management , Change Management and Problem management.

My First 3 years and 9 months were with Infosys as SAP technical consultant. My job involved Technical Maintenance and Development of SAP systems of Microsoft US. After that I moved to another MNC and is working as SAP Finance Consultant. I worked as a Technical Consultant and Functional Consultant for another MNC headquartered in US. Also I am working for an Government authorized NGO which takes care of the teenage girls and their growth and studies for about 1.5 years as their representative for IT companies

Extra-curricular Activities• Football Captain and Representative in Various Major IT tournaments • Elected class representative for a year during my undergraduate degree• Participated in a number of debates and entrepreneurship related inter-college events• Trekking, travelling, reading, yoga & music

GMATTotal Score: 670 Quant: 48Verbal: 34

Post MBA goalsShort term: Consulting (Financial Services division of a top tier firm or as IT consultant in SCM)Long term: Entrepreneurial

I am looking forward for only 1 year Programs. Please suggest other schools in Asia and United States that I could apply to. Are schools like INSEAD, LBS, Harvard and Stanford within my reach?

Do let me know if you need any further information to evaluate my profile. _________________

Can you please help me in identifying the schools that I should target based on my profile and career goals? I plan to start my MBA in Fall 2014 and will be applying in the second round for most schools.

ProfileGender - MaleAge - 26Nationality - Indian

Educational QualificationBachelor's of Technology(Computer Science), Punjabi UniversityYear of Graduation: 2008Results: 64.50% on 100 (Have not converted to GPA because India does not have a standardized result format)

SAP Consultant

Work ExperienceTotal Work Experience: 5 years 3 monthsFull time: 5 years 3 months

Overview• Over 5 years of full-time experience in SAP consultant in Major MNCs• Focused on SAP Technologies consultancy with an inclination towards technical analysis and SAP FICO • Efficient in Team Management, risk management , Change Management and Problem management.

My First 3 years and 9 months were with Infosys as SAP technical consultant. My job involved Technical Maintenance and Development of SAP systems of Microsoft US. After that I moved to another MNC and is working as SAP Finance Consultant. I worked as a Technical Consultant and Functional Consultant for another MNC headquartered in US. Also I am working for an Government authorized NGO which takes care of the teenage girls and their growth and studies for about 1.5 years as their representative for IT companies

Extra-curricular Activities• Football Captain and Representative in Various Major IT tournaments • Elected class representative for a year during my undergraduate degree• Participated in a number of debates and entrepreneurship related inter-college events• Trekking, travelling, reading, yoga & music

GMATTotal Score: 670 Quant: 48Verbal: 34

Post MBA goalsShort term: Consulting (Financial Services division of a top tier firm or as IT consultant in SCM)Long term: Entrepreneurial

I am looking forward for only 1 year Programs. Please suggest other schools in Asia and United States that I could apply to. Are schools like INSEAD, LBS, Harvard and Stanford within my reach?

Do let me know if you need any further information to evaluate my profile.

Hello Abhinav,Thanks for dropping by.So first of all, overall, the schools that you mentioned are out of range for you (HBS, Stanford), but that doesn't matter, cause there are plenty of other fantastic schools! (and anyhow, who wants to go to HBS or Stanford?? They don't even have have one year programs!). For a list of one-year programs I will refer you to this wonderful post by another GMATClub user here: one-year-mba-programs-directory-1-year-mba-139929.html Kellogg and Johnson are likely out of range, but the others should be possible.

One last thing. As you probably know, coming from your applicant pool as an Indian Male IT dude, is tough. Very tough. You need to find some way to make yourself UNIQUE to get the best possible chances. So far, I don't see it in your post. But you DO probably have something somewhere in your profile, and it's really really helpful if you can find those things and exploit them to give yourself the best possible chances,

Can you please help me in identifying the schools that I should target based on my profile and career goals? I plan to start my MBA in Fall 2014 and will be applying in the second round for most schools.

ProfileGender - MaleAge - 26Nationality - Indian

Educational QualificationBachelor's of Technology(Computer Science), Punjabi UniversityYear of Graduation: 2008Results: 64.50% on 100 (Have not converted to GPA because India does not have a standardized result format)

SAP Consultant

Work ExperienceTotal Work Experience: 5 years 3 monthsFull time: 5 years 3 months

Overview• Over 5 years of full-time experience in SAP consultant in Major MNCs• Focused on SAP Technologies consultancy with an inclination towards technical analysis and SAP FICO • Efficient in Team Management, risk management , Change Management and Problem management.

My First 3 years and 9 months were with Infosys as SAP technical consultant. My job involved Technical Maintenance and Development of SAP systems of Microsoft US. After that I moved to another MNC and is working as SAP Finance Consultant. I worked as a Technical Consultant and Functional Consultant for another MNC headquartered in US. Also I am working for an Government authorized NGO which takes care of the teenage girls and their growth and studies for about 1.5 years as their representative for IT companies

Extra-curricular Activities• Football Captain and Representative in Various Major IT tournaments • Elected class representative for a year during my undergraduate degree• Participated in a number of debates and entrepreneurship related inter-college events• Trekking, travelling, reading, yoga & music

GMATTotal Score: 670 Quant: 48Verbal: 34

Post MBA goalsShort term: Consulting (Financial Services division of a top tier firm or as IT consultant in SCM)Long term: Entrepreneurial

I am looking forward for only 1 year Programs. Please suggest other schools in Asia and United States that I could apply to. Are schools like INSEAD, LBS, Harvard and Stanford within my reach?

Do let me know if you need any further information to evaluate my profile.

Hello Abhinav,Thanks for dropping by.So first of all, overall, the schools that you mentioned are out of range for you (HBS, Stanford), but that doesn't matter, cause there are plenty of other fantastic schools! (and anyhow, who wants to go to HBS or Stanford?? They don't even have have one year programs!). For a list of one-year programs I will refer you to this wonderful post by another GMATClub user here: one-year-mba-programs-directory-1-year-mba-139929.html Kellogg and Johnson are likely out of range, but the others should be possible.

One last thing. As you probably know, coming from your applicant pool as an Indian Male IT dude, is tough. Very tough. You need to find some way to make yourself UNIQUE to get the best possible chances. So far, I don't see it in your post. But you DO probably have something somewhere in your profile, and it's really really helpful if you can find those things and exploit them to give yourself the best possible chances,

Hope this helps!!

Hello Jon,

Thanks for replying,

I agree with you HBS, Stanford, Insead etc are out of my reach I am not even aiming for them after the reaserch done in last one week. I found USC marshall and Emory one year programm good , but in USC average age of class is bit on the higher side also it is focussed more on Enterpreneul side. I am interested more for Management consulting Post MBA.

Also How do you rate my chaces in Emory, Melbourne Business school and Nanyang 1 - year programmes ???

Hey there again Abhinav,so I think with your current GMAT score, the list you propose is okay, but maybe still a bit on the tough side. For the two US schools, you have less than the average GMAT of the incoming student… which doesn't mean that things are hopeless! Meaning again, if you can work to make your application sound great, then you would have more of a chance. I think you should be competitive at Nanyang and Melbourne with a good application. So it's a good start here.

Add one or two more schools, and you should be good. also, if there is any chance that you apply a bit later and get even 20-30 more points on the GMAT it could also help. For these schools 670 is about average, but if you crack a 710, and apply all of a sudden there is something different about your application (you'll still need to have those fantastic essays of course)

Hey there again Abhinav,so I think with your current GMAT score, the list you propose is okay, but maybe still a bit on the tough side. For the two US schools, you have less than the average GMAT of the incoming student… which doesn't mean that things are hopeless! Meaning again, if you can work to make your application sound great, then you would have more of a chance. I think you should be competitive at Nanyang and Melbourne with a good application. So it's a good start here.

Add one or two more schools, and you should be good. also, if there is any chance that you apply a bit later and get even 20-30 more points on the GMAT it could also help. For these schools 670 is about average, but if you crack a 710, and apply all of a sudden there is something different about your application (you'll still need to have those fantastic essays of course)

Best,JF

Thanks Jon For your insights, so It all comes down to my essays and Apps ..

I am also applying to German B schools Manheimm and Leipzig ..But I am not sure being an Indian how good my chances of landing a good job in German post MBA and also hows the ROI in Germany and the reviewss I have read about German B schools are not so great with their Post MBA career guidance and help .

Hey there again Abhinav,so I think with your current GMAT score, the list you propose is okay, but maybe still a bit on the tough side. For the two US schools, you have less than the average GMAT of the incoming student… which doesn't mean that things are hopeless! Meaning again, if you can work to make your application sound great, then you would have more of a chance. I think you should be competitive at Nanyang and Melbourne with a good application. So it's a good start here.

Add one or two more schools, and you should be good. also, if there is any chance that you apply a bit later and get even 20-30 more points on the GMAT it could also help. For these schools 670 is about average, but if you crack a 710, and apply all of a sudden there is something different about your application (you'll still need to have those fantastic essays of course)

Best,JF

Thanks Jon For your insights, so It all comes down to my essays and Apps ..

I am also applying to German B schools Manheimm and Leipzig ..But I am not sure being an Indian how good my chances of landing a good job in German post MBA and also hows the ROI in Germany and the reviewss I have read about German B schools are not so great with their Post MBA career guidance and help .

Any suggestion are most welcome.

Thanks,Abhinav

Actually their employment statistics are both quite fantastic, so I think you should be able to find a good job afterwards, and your GMAT should be good enough for both of those schools, _________________

Hey there again Abhinav,so I think with your current GMAT score, the list you propose is okay, but maybe still a bit on the tough side. For the two US schools, you have less than the average GMAT of the incoming student… which doesn't mean that things are hopeless! Meaning again, if you can work to make your application sound great, then you would have more of a chance. I think you should be competitive at Nanyang and Melbourne with a good application. So it's a good start here.

Add one or two more schools, and you should be good. also, if there is any chance that you apply a bit later and get even 20-30 more points on the GMAT it could also help. For these schools 670 is about average, but if you crack a 710, and apply all of a sudden there is something different about your application (you'll still need to have those fantastic essays of course)

Best,JF

Thanks Jon For your insights, so It all comes down to my essays and Apps ..

I am also applying to German B schools Manheimm and Leipzig ..But I am not sure being an Indian how good my chances of landing a good job in German post MBA and also hows the ROI in Germany and the reviewss I have read about German B schools are not so great with their Post MBA career guidance and help .

Any suggestion are most welcome.

Thanks,Abhinav

Actually their employment statistics are both quite fantastic, so I think you should be able to find a good job afterwards, and your GMAT should be good enough for both of those schools,

Thanks SO much Jon for your help...

I will keep this post updated If at all I got any admit (Fingers crossed)

I have got through in Simon (University OF rochester) with scholarship in one year program.

Emory and Mannhiem DInged me

I got through in KATZ (University OF Pittsburgh) no news on Scholarship yet.

Still waiting to hear from Hough and Purdue.

Please rate these colleges and suggest which one will be better overall. I was excited bout SImon but fees is almost at par with top 10 colleges I dont want to take that a big education loan :\

Regards,Abhinav

Congrats!

Well, I am of the belief in general that going to a better school usually pays off. It costs more, but it brings more with better connections, better job offers upon graduation and higher salaries. And the statistics usually bear this out (compare ranking with average post-MBA salary if you don't believe me!). But I would definitely definitely suggest you do further research before you make your final decision. Once you know what your options are, it will be VERY helpful if you speak to other international students or alumni in YOUR INDUSTRY from each school that you are considering to see what your real employment options might look like leaving each school upon graduation.

So with final decision to make. I am listing some PROs and CONs of the schools

1. Simon - Good brand Name, good location near NYC , Strong Alumni network , good curriculumCons - Very Expensive , out of budget for me , only 2nd one year MBA batch - not so good feedback from current students

2. Purdue - Good Brand name, Good location near Chicago , IL , Strong Alumn Network , Good for IT background - which is the biggest positive ,Curriculum focused more on IT

Cons - Again Expensive , First STEM one year MBA batch , no placement stats for STEM , No Idea how industry will take this course, 1/3 of the class are indians roughly 10 out of 30 more competition,

3. Katz -- Ok brand name , Good location , Lum strongCons - Not so confident with placements, CMC centre is bad talked to current students

4. UTD - Great location , Weather , 3 months Internship, International student trip , great scholarship and economical Cons - More competition from other bschools in same city and not so great placement record.

So with final decision to make. I am listing some PROs and CONs of the schools

1. Simon - Good brand Name, good location near NYC , Strong Alumni network , good curriculumCons - Very Expensive , out of budget for me , only 2nd one year MBA batch - not so good feedback from current students

2. Purdue - Good Brand name, Good location near Chicago , IL , Strong Alumn Network , Good for IT background - which is the biggest positive ,Curriculum focused more on IT

Cons - Again Expensive , First STEM one year MBA batch , no placement stats for STEM , No Idea how industry will take this course, 1/3 of the class are indians roughly 10 out of 30 more competition,

3. Katz -- Ok brand name , Good location , Lum strongCons - Not so confident with placements, CMC centre is bad talked to current students

4. UTD - Great location , Weather , 3 months Internship, International student trip , great scholarship and economical Cons - More competition from other bschools in same city and not so great placement record.

PLease pour in suggestions I have to make decision in one week.

What other factors shall I look in for making final decision.

Thanks in advance for suggestionsabhinav S

Abhinav,I'd stick to thinking about either Simon or Purdue. They have similar prestige, and so if Purdue is that much cheaper for you, I don't see any reason for you not to go there. And it matches you and your goals Plus from what you have written here, it seems to be your choice.

One thing though: If you are up for it, I would HIGHLY recommend visiting both schools before you choose. You never know. And a visit may clarify things. I know, it's expensive and you don't have time. But in comparison to the MBA... But otherwise, I'd lean also towards Purdue.

I would have loved to visit school before enrolling but I cant have that luxury being based out from India.

My only concern with Purdue is this is One Year STEM MBA's first batch - No idea how the market gonna take it.

Operations being its strength and my career goal as well I am inclined for it.

I have dropped Simon and KATZ for now.

Have to chose between UTD and Purdue in next three days (yes 3 days only) - But this is how I have been whole my life deciding things at the last hour.

UTD is offering me great scholarship but yes I dont want to take decision based only on financial reasons as the brand of school will be attached to m e whole my life.Can you throw some light on out of Dallas and Chicago which city have better and more opportunities for people from IT background ?

Also weather wise I am more tilted towards Dallas, I have never lived in sub zero temperatures and will prefer not to live in future as well.

Hey Abhinav,Well I think you can first comfort yourself with the knowledge that whatever you do choose it will be a good choice. From there on, I don't know how much more I can help you. The exact situation of the IT job markets is something that is beyond my speciality, and you would be far better asking folks in the Industry (or ideally emailing alumni who graduated from both schools and now work in IT) to find out in regards to that. Otherwise, I think in terms of prestige, both are similarly attractive,